And it all starts over again...

OK, now that Christmas is behind us (in more ways than one, ugghhh!) the New Year is upon us (again, in more ways than one, eewww, gotta get back on that treadmill!), now what? I have so much to look forward to this year, but I'm still waiting for the final paperwork so I can get started! So, here's a look back at some of the fun things I did...

Carly came along early in the year, making me a grandmother for the second time. I think I'm liking this grandmother thing! This photo was taken the day I saw Carly for the first time, on my way home from the airport. Silly little girl couldn't wait for Mamaw to get home from Africa! That was OK, though, because her daddy sent me photos almost immediately! Isn't the Internet wonderful!

It snowed 8 inches in March! Hey, this is Texas, for Pete's sake, it's not supposed to snow here! Then a couple of weeks later, it was a beautiful day for the Easter Egg Hunt! That's more like it! (yeah, notice those manly legs in the background, wearing shorts!)
Graduation happened, and then summer...

Caleb loves Grandpa's tractor!

Fall and football... that's my niece in the football pads, flirting with the players as usual (She's 4, and a very silly girl! Her daddy's a coach, so she spends a LOT of time at football games...)

Carly grew and grew and grew!

Once this year I got inspired and baked whole wheat bread FROM SCRATCH! (not that frozen stuff you get at the supermarket!) Yeast bread rising smells so good!

The obligatory Thanksgiving family pose... (after the football game, of course!)


....and SUDDENLY it's Christmas again! Where does the time go? Now we get to do it all over again... I hope and pray that 2009 will be as much fun as 2008!

What I did on my Christmas Vacation...

Fun! (No, really, I LOVE putting things together!)

I Got It!

Today I received my OFFICIAL invitation to join the AG Mission team in Mozambique! I don't know how, or when, or where, but at least I know I'm going! Thank You Jesus!

One hurdle behind me...

Yesterday I received a recommendation from my district.... Yes, I've actually been approved to represent North Texas as a Missionary Associate to Mozambique! I was really worried about being interviewed by six pastors, but it all went very well, and they even told me they were quite impressed with me! Who'd a thunk? I still don't think I'm all that special, but then I know myself better than anybody else.... (hehe!) OK, maybe I am a bit above average in some areas, but I consider myself well below average in others, so doesn't that make me just about average? (Unlike Mary Poppins, who was, "Practically perfect in every way!") Although, no one really knows anything about her past, either..... doing OK at this moment is all I can ask....

Some of the reasons....

I thought I would share a few of the reasons I want to go back to Mozambique...

These boys were living on the streets, suffering

from malnutrition... they are now happy, healthy boys

who can play and have fun instead of begging or stealing to survive...

Teaching girls a marketable skill keeps them off the streets, and gives them

hope for a job when they finish school...

Rosina is wearing the first pair of new shoes she

has ever had... I bought them for 50 cents at the dollar store...

I love to hold babies! These guys were just visiting...

they are the nephews of one of the workers...

This home currently houses 40 children... for every child rescued from a life on the streets, there are still hundreds more who need the simplest things we take for granted...

a safe place to sleep, something to wear, something to eat, someone to trust...

It takes so little to do so much....

Change of Heart?

I just received an interesting phone call, perhaps my dream is not gone after all... It appears my application was routed to the wrong department, and has now been re-routed to the proper place. I knew I was not qualified for a position requiring ministry credentials, and that is not what I thought I was applying for, but that's where my application ended up. It's OK, I'm not in a hurry, and God knows the proper time for all things. I'm getting better at waiting.... (not liking it any more, just getting better at it...)

"Thanks, but No Thanks...."

...they said. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, after all, I have "a past..." So, I'll go on with my life, and look to the future. There will be other opportunities, other avenues if God truly wants me to minister to children in Mozambique... I'll be keeping my eyes open...